Week of May 3rd., 2010
After the scheduled weekend session of the General
Assembly was cancelled, there are only five scheduled days left to the 2010
Spring Session. Last week, the House heard dozens of proposals and most
bills were basically legislation that had been amended and agreed to. That
means that most of the proposals that are left to debate and discuss this week
are still being haggled over and there could be lots of close votes on some
very controversial matters. It might be a good week to listen in to hear
the action. You can go to www.ilga.gov to hear live debate related to
the proposals. If you have thoughts or opinions, please let me know immediately
at reddyunit1@aol.com as things will be moving quickly and your input is appreciated
as we take up very controversial issues.
Last week, there was not an attempt to pass several bills related to additional gun control. Mayor Daley has renewed his call for legislators to pass more gun control bills prior to the adjournment of the Spring Session. Many people thought that there would be an effort to pass some new gun laws last week. However, no bills were brought forward. That does not mea that there will not be an attempt to pass something this week. I can assure you that I will be in Springfield to oppose any effort to pass legislation that would in any way diminish your Second Amendment Rights. Thanks to the literally hundreds of you who contacted me related to the gun bills.
I also want to report that it appears that although the vote might be very close, it appears that the proposal to allow medical marijuana (SB1381) will fall short of passage. This is a difficult issue. However, I think law enforcement agencies have made the case that the current proposal just has too many loopholes. A very large percentage of my constituents urged me not to support the current plan which would allow individuals to grow their own supply of marijuana for medical purposes. Many felt that there should be some type of program that would allow individuals to use marijuana to help treat certain medical conditions if the use was by prescription only. Thanks to those on both sides of this issue for providing me with your thoughts. Proponents made some good arguments. I hope that at some point there can be an agreement that will allow for the use of this drug in a manner that is controlled and law enforcement officials can agree to.
Also last week, there was a very long and often heated debate on the House floor related to changing the way the legislative maps are drawn in Illinois. The proposal that was brought to the House floor for a vote would still allow politicians to choose who get to vote for them. It was defeated in a close vote. The disappointing thing is that a different proposal which would have taken the map drawing out of the hands of politicians was defeated in committee by a partisan votes and never brought forward to the House floor for a vote. It appears the Fair Map alternative is now dead. That is a shame. The fact that the majority party saw the possibility of allowing maps to be drawn in a completely non-partisan manner to be a threat to the power they have killed the Fair Map concept.
A proposal to allow for a private school voucher program for the city of Chicago only was amended to make it cost neutral so that only funds that were calculated from Chicago’s share of state aid would be used to support the program. I still have several problems with SB2494, but the sponsor did respond to the request of many to make the program which is for Chicago schools only take money from the current portion of State Aid. My main concern with the proposal at this point is that there are no requirements regarding the schools that the students would be allowed to attend with the voucher. Students could go from one poor performing school to another. Plus, what about the students we are leaving behind in the poor performing Chicago public schools, taking a few students out of that environment does nothing for those left behind. Finally, there are some very legitimate concerns related to public funds being used to promote private school secular religious curricula that might be challenged in court. In short, this legislation needs work. I hear more Amendments might be coming this week. Please let me know your thoughts about this proposal. So far, my mail is running ten to one against the idea.
As far as the budget is concerned, there was very little work or progress made on a final budget. There still seems to be a huge push from the governor’s office to pass a budget that would rely on a hefty income tax increase, record borrowing and fund raids. In fact, sixty percent of the $13 billion deficit would be made up through additional borrowing if the governor were to get his way, thirty-eight percent would come from new taxes and only two percent would come from budget cuts.
One of the revelations made last week that has gotten little press to this point but needs to be reported is the fact that just a few days prior to the Primary election this spring, the governor signed a new contract with state worker’s unions that provided some pretty hefty pay increases. In fact, data provided by the governor’s office reveals that in the midst of a record deficit, the governor approved pay raises for worker that will cost the state over $300 million annualized over FY10 and FY11. Some of the departments that the governor has targeted for reduction in staff and offices to be closed saw raises to workers. Remember a few weeks ago when the governor proposed shutting down several state police posts around the state and laying off 400 state troopers? Well, it is interesting to note that in the midst of that proposal, the increase in wages for state police over the two years is over $12 million. Raises in the Department of Agriculture total over $14 million and over $19 million in the Department of Human Services. Last year, the governor wanted to lay off one thousand prison guards and allow the early release of prisoners, yet there are raises totaling over $37 million in the Department of Corrections. So, while the governor is proposing cutting services to the disabled, he signed a contract to give hefty raises to workers. All this during a record fiscal deficit and crisis. While the governor is proposing huge increases in income taxes to the hard working people in this state, we are digging the hole deeper!
In addition, the governor has not agreed to halting new programs, there is no discussion related to reforming worker’s compensation and there is absolutely no movement on Medicaid reforms including no discussion on even an income means test for those receiving state sponsored health care. Proposals related to a moratorium on unfunded mandates have been stalled and the governor is once again proposing literally stealing money from hundreds of dedicated funds. The Speaker and Senate President seem content to provide the governor with extra-ordinary borrowing power and leave town at the end of this week and wait until after the election in hopes that they can raise your taxes next year AFTER the election all without any cuts or common sense approaches to solving our fiscal mess. I just cannot support any effort to raise revenue unless there is a hard cap on spending, a line by line audit of state spending and some common sense applied to fiscal practices like raising wages while cutting programs for people.
Do you agree or disagree? I need to hear from you this week if you have an opinion on the budget or any other issue. Time is running out. You can reach me at: P.O. Box 125, Hutsonville, IL 62433, call me at 618-563-4128 or 217-558-1040 or e-mail me at reddyunit1@aol.com. You can also read more on my web site: www.peopleforeddy.com or and follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RepEddy and www.tweetillinois.org.